Abstract

The catalytic growth of carbon nanotubes by excimer laser nanostructuring (LN) of nickel films was investigated. The thin films were first deposited by pulsed laser ablation (PLA). The plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was used to grow the multiwall carbon nanotubes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for the study of the films. It was observed that the combination of excimer laser growth and LN of Ni films was useful for the preparation of substrates with well-defined, discrete, nano-scale catalyst particles.